Carl Fisher was rushing a badly injured man to the hospital. The man had been burned while working construction at a brand-new venue called the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Fisher's brain child.

This was in 1909. The racetrack was being resurfaced. Fisher was a rich and powerful businessman. He was white. The construction worker was African-American.

Fisher put the injured man in his car and roared off to a private hospital. A century ago Indianapolis had many small, private hospitals.

But the hospital would not accept the injured man. Sorry, whites only.

The man died.

Norma B. Erickson came across this story a few years ago while reading "Fabulous Hoosier," a biography of Fisher written in 1947 by Fisher's ex-wife, Jane Watts Fisher.

Erickson could not confirm the story through other sources, but it easily could have happened. Indianapolis' healthcare system in 1909 was segregated. Only City Hospital admitted black patients, and black physicians weren't allowed to practice in any hospital.

Erickson, who was studying for her master's degree in history from IUPUI, realized there was an obvious need for a black hospital at the time and so went searching for one.

She found one: the Lincoln Hospital, and she made it the subject of her master's thesis.

The hospital was the city's first hospital built by and for African Americans. It occupied an old house in the 1100 block of Senate Avenue. It had 20 beds. All its doctors were black, and the hospital also trained black nurses. It opened Dec. 13, 1909. "Public Invited to Inspect Institution for Colored People Monday," said a headline in the Indianapolis News.

The hospital closed in 1915 after just six years for lack of funding, and by now its story is nearly entirely forgotten. Only one photo of the Lincoln Hospital is known to exist. In the 1600-page Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, the Lincoln Hospital rates just two sentences.

Erickson was drawn to the story because it shows not only "the difficulties of the black community of the time, the obstacles that set people back" but also "their courage and drive."

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It shows, too, she observed, that some white people had a heart because one of the hospital's financial backers was Carl Fisher. Another was the rich, white businessman William English.

It's surprisingly random which bits of history get lost and which bits are remembered. The story of the Lincoln Hospital might have remained in the shadows had not Erickson happened to read that Carl Fisher biography.

A history student's thesis rarely gets much public exposure, but the story of the Lincoln Hospital is due to become known more widely after Erickson campaigned to erect an historic marker telling its story.

The marker will be dedicated Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the site where the hospital once stood, 1101 N. Senate Ave. The public is invited to attend the ceremony.

Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at 317 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.